Oslo-listed marine seismic vessel owner Polarcus is about to take early redelivery of its Vyacheslav Tikhonov seismic vessel from the Russian company Sovcomflot.

The Vyacheslav Tikhonov, originally named the Polarcus Selma, has been on a long-term charter with Sovcomflot since delivery from the yard in 2011, with an extension signed in 2015. The charter was set to expire in October 2019.

However, as previously reported, the two companies have an arrangement whereby Sovcoflot has an option to redeliver the vessel on no less than 30 days’ notice without penalty.

Sovcomflot has now exercised its option, and Polarcus expects to the seismic vessel to be redelivered towards the end of April, 2019 following completion of the combined streamer and node project offshore Dubai.

Vyacheslav Tikhonov is a high ice class 8 streamer vessel suited to 3D XArray exploration requiring cable separations of 160 to 200m. It was built to the ULSTEIN SX133 design and incorporates the ULSTEIN X-BOW hull.

During a naming ceremony for the seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov in September 2011, in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin assumed the role of Guardian to the vessel. He acted as the prime minister at the time.

Commenting on future prospects for the vessel Polarcus sounded optimistic in its statement on Monday.

It said: “With evident signs of market improvement, the Company is in dialogue with customers on various projects and will explore opportunities for the vessel over the summer season.”